Abstract
We studied the influence of dehydration conditions on the ability of dried larvae of Polypedilum vanderplanki to revive upon rehydration. High survival rates were obtained only for the larvae which had gone through the relatively slow dehydration. Final content of trehalose in the desiccated larvae varied depending on the dehydration protocol employed. The dehydrated larvae having trehalose as high as 25 wt% of their dried body mass were in glassy states up to ca. 70 ℃, whereas for the dehydrated larvae with only 15wt% trehalose their glass transition temperatures were down to ca. 30 ℃. These findings suggest that appropriate drying history is required to induce successful anhydrobiosis that enables larvae of P. vanderplanki to survive severe conditions imposed by their naturally dwelling place such as temporarily dried-up rock pool, where surface temperature can rise to 60 ℃ at midday in dry season. In addition it was made clear that larval bodies fell rapidly into glassy states at the final stage of the body water substitution for the endogenous trehalose, which supports the recent recognition that the vitrification and water substitution hypotheses are complementary to each other.
